Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Local Band Puts A Fun Twist on Meet & Greet

Last night, I had the privilege of being invited to Spaceland for a meet and greet with Eastern Conference Champions, the current FREE Monday night residency headliner.

ECC, originally from Philadelphia, is an American indie-rock trio featuring Joshua Ostrander, Greg Lyons and Melissa Dougherty. They've been building a steady buzz recently after receiving some hype when word got out that they would be featured on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. The band has furthered that buzz with performances at a handful of local festivals, including Sunset Junction and their current Spaceland residency. Last night, they upped the ante even more when they invited bloggers, including myself, out for some beer and pizza before their show.

Calmly enjoying the tasty (and free) suds of a freshly poured Stone IPA, I got to meet the bandmates, chop it up with Buzzbands Kevin Bronson and talk to the bands publicity team. The soiree, which took place in the back room at Spaceland, became a healthy forum for blog blotter, indie band rumors and brief arguments over who is the next LA band to blow. Although some of the tangential conversation may have taken away from the focus of the event (I got pretty caught up explaining how exactly Foster The People had screwed over me and SUPERGOODMUSIC), I left the soiree thinking I'd made new friends (shout outs to the members of ECC, Buzz Bands Kevin Bronson, J.J. from LA Beets, the new LA Chapter of Owl City, and all the lovely ladies from Planetary Group) and excited to see a rising band perform.

Before ECC hit the stage, local indie duo, The Pity Party, were throwing down their eclectic blend of music. I paid close attention to the drummer, who is clearly talented - she plays drums, keys and sings simultaneously while her partner strutted his guitar and maintained an image of being not that into it. The guy girl duo reminded me a lot of a reversed version of Odd Modern (those two bands should play a show together). Pity also employs some live video streaming and editing, a la Saint Motel.

Post Pity Party the crowd swelled slightly for Eastern Conference Champions - who after the show were taking off to Madison, WI and Chicago, IL for performances later this week. Although not familiar with all of their tunes (they've been a band since about 2005), I was eager to catch the entirety of their show. I unfortunately had to dip out, so seeing their encore will have to wait until next week....

In toto, it was a great time; what struck me most about the evening gathering was that other bands aren't doing this. I thought it was a great way to pull me into the venue early and actually get some face time with the band. I'm not sure who had the brilliant idea - whether it was Planetary Group or Eastern Conference Champions - but cheers to that genius. The simple act of kindness got me to write an article AND I am going back next week to catch some more ECC!

Hope to see you there; it will be the last performance of the Champions' residency.